NIA files charge sheet against PLFI chief, 10 cadres in terror financing case

The National Investigation Agency has filed a charge sheet against 11 members of banned Naxal outfit People's Liberation Front of India (PLFI), including its absconding chief Dinesh Gope, in a terror financing case, officials said on Tuesday.

PLFI cadres arrested by the agency are Vinod Kumar, Chandrashekhar Kumar, Nand Kishor Mahto, Mohan Kumar, Sumant Kumar, Nandlal Swarnkar, Chandra Shekhar Singh, Arun Gope, Jitender Kumar and Navinbhai Jayantibhai Patel.

Dinesh Gope is absconding but has been named as an accused in the charge sheet, the officials said.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has slapped charges of criminal conspiracy, extortion, forgery, and stringent provisions of anti-terror law Unlawful Activities Prevention Act against the accused.

The accused have been charged with raising funds through extortion and converting them into legitimate money by routing them through banking channels and shell companies in the name of close associates and family members of Dinesh, who remains absconding, an agency spokesperson said in a statement.

The Jharkhand police had started the investigation into the matter on November 11, 2016, when Rs 25 lakh were allegedly recovered from PLFI cadres, the NIA said.

They were going to deposit the banned currency in the bank account of a petrol pump post-demonetisation, it said.

The NIA took over the investigation on January 19, 2018.

The agency has alleged that the PLFI extorted money from businessmen in Jharkhand and invested the money in shell companies of Dinesh's relatives and associates using 'hawala' operators to legitimise the funds.

The NIA had unearthed two dozen bank accounts in the names of Dinesh's associates and relatives with transactions worth Rs 2.5 crore, the spokesperson said.

The agency carried out searches in Jharkhand, West Bengal and New Delhi which led to the recovery of cash worth Rs 42.79 lakh, laptops, mobile phones and incriminating documents relating to extortion and investment in properties, he said.

The agency has also attached properties worth Rs 70 lakh, he said.